April 9, 2010 – Today in Manufacturing.net
Inventories held by wholesalers rose by a larger-than-expected amount in February while sales increased for the 11th consecutive month... continue
April 9, 2010 – Late Wire from Manufacturing.net
New study from Forrester Research says technology industry has started to recover from economic downturn and will see worldwide growth this year ... continue
April 9, 2010 – Late Wire from Manufacturing.net
Warm weather, improving job market and early Easter enticed shoppers into stores in March, helping retailers post strong sales gains for the month ... continue
April 9, 2010 - Politico
CBO chief Doug Elmendorf was quoted in Washington saying that the nation's fiscal course "is 'unsustainable,' and the problem 'cannot be solved through minor tinkering.'" He further reported that a recent CBO report puts the increase in the public debt increasing from $7.5 trillion at the end of 2009 to $20.3 trillion at the end of 2020 if President Barack Obama's fiscal 2011 budget were to be implemented as written. That increase would take the debt as a percentage of gross domestic product from 53% to 90%.
Elmendorf continued, "It's a matter of arithmetic. ... Government would need to make changes in some set of the large programs, large parts of the tax code that we think of as the fundamental parts of the budget."
April 9, 2010 – Wall Street Journal - By REBECCA SMITH
Wind turbines near Palm Springs, Calif., seen in January. Los Angeles, like other cities, wants to use more renewable power, though it costs more.
LOS ANGELES—City officials and Los Angeles's power company are sparring over big increases in electricity rates that the utility says it needs to pay for a push into renewable energy.
So far, the city council is balking at the requests. But both sides agree the utility will need more revenue, making some substantial increases likely later this year.
Los Angeles's case could serve as a warning to officials in other cities and states who are also trying to change the energy mix of local utilities, substituting more power from renewable sources, such as wind and sun, for power from coal- or gas-burning plants.
The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, the nation's largest municipal utility, says it needs to collect significantly more money to manage costs associated with an ambitious plan to get more electricity from renewable resources and less from coal.
The utility currently gets about half of its power from coal, an unusually large amount for a utility in California, a state with no significant coal deposits.
The city's goal is to get 20% of its electricity from green sources by the end of the year, which it
is on track to achieve. It hopes to raise that to 35% to 40% by 2020.
Renewable power from sources such as wind turbines and solar farms, however, is considerably more costly than the coal-based electricity it replaces.
The city council had authorized the utility to raise rates 5%, or 0.6 cents a kilowatt hour, on April
1. That plan dissolved Thursday, when the utility's board instead moved to impose an increase of about 5.7% and was halted by the city council, postponing any action for three months.
Jan Perry, a city council member who is chairwoman of an energy subcommittee, said the appointed utility board "overplayed its hand" in thinking it could ignore the wishes of the city's elected officials.
Other council members accused the utility of extortion for threatening to withhold a $73 million payment to the city, which is running a deep deficit, until the department gets a satisfactory rate increase.
A looming revenue shortfall at the Los Angeles utility prompted its board last month to demand a double-digit increase of 2.7 cents a kilowatt hour this year, broken into several increases.
The budget crunch stems from lingering effects of high fuel costs two years ago and, more recently, increased purchases of renewable energy. The utility has been unable to charge customers the full amount of its rising costs because the city council has capped rates.
"The utility needs to raise rates. The mayor's main concern is to make sure the citizens get something back for it, like cleaner energy and green jobs," said Sarah Hamilton, press secretary for Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.
Many businesses oppose rate increases in a weak economy. On Tuesday, the city council heard objections from residents and business owners. A representative of brewer Anheuser-Busch
InBev NV, for example, indicated the rate increase could cost it up to $2 million a year.
Others said the city's goal to generate green jobs was undercut by high electricity prices that would drive businesses from the city.
"We're going to lose a lot of jobs," warned Councilman Greig Smith. "And this proposal doesn't shut down a single coal plant."
April 9, 2010 – Today in Manufacturing.net
Company said it is immediately increasing prices for its carbon steel products, saying the hike is in response to increased demand and higher costs for materials... continue
INDUSTRIAL PROPERTY MARKET POISED FOR RECOVERY
April 9, 2010 – Late Wire at Manufacturing.net
After one of the worst years in decades, the industrial property market is slowly regaining its footing, and the trend is a good sign for the economy ... continue
IMPROVED U.S.-CHINA TIES COULD HELP CURRENCY DISPUTE
April 9, 2010 – Late Wire at Manufacturing.net
Washington has backed off confrontational approach, and now some analysts expect Chinese leaders to let yuan rise soon in response to warming ties ... continue
EIA EXPECTS 2.9% GROWTH IN TOTAL US ELECTRIC DEMAND THIS YEAR
By Amanda Luhavalja
April 9, 2010 – UAE Weekly Energy Brief
Total electricity consumption is expected to grow by 2.9% this year in the United States, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said in its latest "Short-Term Energy Outlook," released April 6. The projection is up from a 2.0% growth forecast from the agency's prior monthly outlook.
The EIA also said projected U.S. power demand is likely to grow by an additional 1.2% in 2011.
EIA forecasts residential retail sales of electricity grew by an estimated 7.6% in the first quarter compared with the same period last year. Much of that growth was the consequence of the cold weather experienced during January and February in the South, where many households use electricity for space heating.
EIA expects residential electricity sales to grow by about 7% during the third quarter of this year, as summer temperatures are expected to return to normal levels after the cool summer experienced in 2009.
Last year, electricity generation from coal declined by 10.8%, while generation from natural gas increased by 5.1% as lower natural gas prices motivated fuel switching in the electric power sector. Although natural gas prices are projected to be higher this year than last year, EIA still expects significant incentives to remain for electricity generation from natural gas, particularly in the South. EIA projects total natural gas generation in the electric power sector to grow by 2% in 2010. Low snowpack in the Northwest indicates hydropower generation will be low during the year, falling by an estimated 7.6% for the entire United States compared with last year.
The average U.S. residential electricity price during the first quarter is estimated to be about 10.8 cents per kWh, almost 3% lower than in the same period last year. However, the annual average residential electricity price changes only slightly over the forecast period, averaging 11.5 cents per kWh in 2009 and 2010, and then rising to 11.7 cents per kWh in 2011 because of higher coal and natural gas generation fuel costs.
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